Ah, right, I needed to go fight a demon… that is all the way not fun. Don’t worry, nothing more happened between me and the demon after I kicked its arse. Now, you might wonder where everything else went. I’m getting to that.

~Gato, talking about the events leading up to the end of the fight with Caules.

#

Gato and M’thr’ln began the fight as they charged at Caules the Prideful Wrath. Gato drew his borrowed sword and started to swing at the demon, even though Caules was well above his level. Caules simply side-stepped the strike and attempted to strike Gato with the pole of his battle-ax, only for Gato to jump over it.

M’thr’ln started to claw at the demon, before the demon managed to dodge out of the way. With that, Caules swung at the dragon, using the axe blades to strike at the current attacker.

The platinum dragon attempted to dodge, but got nicked on his right front leg. “Ack!!” he cried out, before noticing something. “Huh? I’m not hurt?”

“That’s impossible!” Caules cried out. “I thought I didn’t put enough power in on hurting the boy, but you’re a dragon with a lot of hard scales, and my battle-ax is good enough to cut into hard scales like a hot knife through butter!”

Gato took advantage of the confusion to run Caules through with his borrowed sword and a blood curdling roar. This better work!

“Eh?” Caules blinked when he heard the roar and was about to turn around, but Gato struck him where the heart would be on a human body.

[Critical Hit! 14,987 points of damage dealt!]

“Urk!!” Caules cried out, before he turned his head slowly to look at Gato. “You… damn… brat!”

Uh-oh… this doesn’t bode well for me.

To prove Gato’s point, Caules rammed the pole of his battle-ax into Gato’s stomach, forcing the teen to let go of the sword and flinging him backwards fifteen feet into a tree.

[You took 170 points of damage.]

Gato coughed from the impact, before he groaned at the amount of damage he took. I need to be extra careful…

Caules pulled the sword out from his back, then hurled it at Gato. “Maybe this should prove you’re no match for me,” he muttered, looking away from Gato for the moment.

Gato’s eyes widened, before he ducked to his left at the last possible second.

*THUNK!!*

That was a close call… I’m just glad that I didn’t get impaled on it.

As Caules faced off against M’thr’ln once again, the dragon prepared to breathe out a torrent of fire against the demon. With a deep breath in and a prayer for someone to help out, the torrent of fire formed out of the dragon’s mouth and shot towards the demon.

“What a pity, you foolish dragon,” Caules chided his current foe, before he simply held his battle-ax out in front of him. However, when he felt the heat from the fire hit his battle-ax, he almost let go of his weapon. “What the—?” He then dodged the jet of flame headed his way. “What did you do?!”

“The benefits of praying for help against you,” M’thr’ln answered. “Now, are we going to do this the easy way? Or the hard way?”

Caules blinked a few times, before he started laughing uncontrollably. “Listen to you,” he said. “This ought to be a riot. You’re a brave one, dragon, I’ll definitely give you that. The same goes for the human boy with you. But someone so weak and frail as you shall surely crumble before the power that I possess.”

Gato, having stood back up by that point, pulled the sword from the tree and pointed it at Caules. Before he started to attack again, however, he thought of something. “Analyze,” he muttered, looking at the demon.

Caules of the Prideful Wrath

Mortal Realm Level: 40

Realm Breaker Level: 400

Mortal Realm HP: 1,013/16,000

Realm Breaker HP: 200,000,000/200,000,000

Mortal Realm MP: 12,000/12,000

Realm Breaker MP: 120,000/120,000

Caules the Prideful Wrath is a Rank 4 Demon, one who has the potential to be a supreme Overlord of his portion of the Underworld. In fact, any demon of Rank 4 or greater is able to become an Overlord, but only this particular demon is able to pull off the needed feat of uniting the different portions of the Underworld… supposing you don’t kill him first.

Gato looked at M’thr’ln as he kept the window open to the side.

M’thr’ln the Platinum Dragon, LVL 50

Gato’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when he saw the sheer difference in power compared to himself. How is that possible?! I mean, unless I’m just that weak, this shouldn’t be possible!

“What’s left of you will scatter like leaves in the wind!” Caules cried out, before he began bracing himself at that moment. “Realm Breaker!” he yelled. With a flash of power, the land around him began to morph into something akin to the pits of Hell, only it was full of bats and skeletal armies that were waiting at attention. “Behold!” he exclaimed. “This is the power of a demon of the appropriate rank!”

Gato and M’thr’ln looked at each other for a brief amount of time, before looking at the effects of the demon’s power flowing out. One thought seemed to flow through their minds at the same time.

We are so boned…

“Now do you see how screwed you are?” Caules asked, laughing right after.

Gato barely felt the strength to walk forward and fight. However, he couldn’t help but wonder why things were going to be even more complicated soon, or why he was somehow feeling more of his vitality coming back to him…

Hold on a second… what happened?

[Er… did I forget to tell you how to access the Status Menu?]

Yes, you did forget to tell me.

[Okay, just making sure. To access it, simply say “Status” out loud.]

Gato nodded, before he said, “Status.”

Gato, son of Alexander Level 1

Current Experience Point Total

900

Total Experience Points To Next Level

1,000

Current Hit Points

60

Maximum Hit Points

300

Current Magic Points

95

Maximum Magic Points

200

Strength

10

-

0

+

Dexterity

10

-

0

+

Agility

11

-

0

+

Constitution

10

-

0

+

Intelligence

10

-

0

+

Wisdom

11

-

0

+

Power

10

-

0

+

Willpower

10

-

0

+

Perception

10

-

0

+

Spirit

10

-

0

+

Charisma

10

-

0

+

Luck

12

-

0

+

Stat Points

0

Cash Points

0

Gato felt his eyes bug out at that. How did my health go up to 60 from what it was before?!

[Simply put, there’s an unchangeable stat that needs to be mentioned for your benefit. This stat is called Vitality, and is used to govern how much health you recover every five minutes when in the middle of combat.]

Okay… wait, just in the middle of combat?

[Of course. Otherwise, sleeping in your bed will not do anything for you.]

Of course... I should’ve figured. Thanks for the info.

[Certainly. Now, your Vitality stat is permanently set to 10, which is a percentage value.]

What’s a percentage value supposed to mean?

[It means, in this case, that your health recovers at a flat 30 HP for every five minutes you spend in combat.]

Oh, okay, I see what you mean now. Another thought hit Gato. Wait, why’s my Current Magic Point total at 95?

[You kept on using Analyze when checking for traps earlier, if you need a reminder.]

Oh, right. I recall what you’re saying, now.

“Now, you pathetic dragon,” Caules said, bringing Gato’s attention back to the fight that was about to get back out of hand. “You’d best be ready for what amounts to personal Hell for you… get ready to die.”

#

This is getting insane, M’thr’ln thought, scowling at Caules of the Prideful Wrath. How are we supposed to go after this demon with our full power at this rate? I highly doubt that the demon is planning on taking any further injuries, to boot.

Because of the issues that M’thr’ln and Gato had to face, this particular monstrosity was going to be a massive pain to fight, regardless of the fact that this fight needed to end faster than they actually could do.

If only I could do something, anything, to fight the demon on equal footing… but what?

At that moment, the platinum dragon felt something click into place in his mind. That’s it! I have a great idea that’s sure to work!

With that, the dragon began to gather his natural fire element power within his very essence, forcing it to go into his lungs to breathe out. While doing that, he thought, I need to warn Gato to get out of the line of fire post-haste. How do I do that, though?

With a mental shrug, he decided to go and get the fire properly used from his lungs. As a matter of fact, the fire was starting to come out much easier than normal… probably because of the System that Gato’s power uses. It was worth thinking about.

With a deep breath, M’thr’ln breathed in the needed oxygen and triggered the fire, blowing it out of his lungs immediately in the direction of the demon. Please work, please work, please work!!

As he thought that out, the dragon saw that the fire was flaming in the direction of the demon and its forces, although a few dozen health bars were shown above their heads… all losing a minuscule amount of HP when hit by the fire in question. What the… this isn’t right! What happened to the demon?!

“Was that supposed to hurt?” Caules asked, a mocking tone in its voice. “Nice try, buster. Now you’ll see how much trouble you’ll get yourself in this time for facing me with such a wimpy amount of power over the element of fire.”

Well, crud… M’thr’ln thought, as a burst of fire flowed back to him and caused something unthinkable in the confines of Gato’s power… scuffing on his platinum scales. Wait just a second, how does that work?!

[You’ve taken 1,200 points of damage. Be advised that you need to recover all your HP swiftly before the enemy wipes you out completely.]

So, wait, if I suffer damage somehow, then my scales get scuffed? Is that right?

[Yes, that’s correct. Nice of you to figure that out.]

M’thr’ln growled. Stupid piece of supernatural power…

[Hey, don’t shoot the messenger, alright?]

M’thr’ln dropped his head for a short bit. Ugh…

Caules chose that moment to laugh like a loon. “I think it’s safe to say that this is the time to end all the fighting that you’re pointlessly continuing... since you failed to do more damage to me in this form from the get-go! Prepare to face your deaths!”

#

Gato groaned when he heard the declaration as uttered by the demon, Caules. How are we supposed to handle this mess without causing any extra trouble to ourselves? This is proving to be more than a little unfair… ugh.

Even still, he decided to press on, since it was going to be a lot harder overall to defeat the demon if he and M’thr’ln didn’t have any chance to recover from all the damage dealt to the two of them. As if things weren’t bad enough, they had to make sure that the demon didn’t catch onto the overall plan that was being created, even if it was an ad lib sort of plan. Now, if only the demon would be more arrogant than normal, and able to give them some breathing room.

At that moment, Gato looked around and saw something above the heads of the skeletons and the bats. Hello, what’s this? he thought. Level indicators and the like above their heads? What’s the big idea?

What he saw was enough of a description that the army that the two of them had ignored for now was a bigger threat than anticipated. Indeed, the majority of them had what looked to be a more normal level count, compared to the more heavy hitters in the battle. For instance:

Skeletal Soldier LVL 3

Skeletal Commander LVL 7

Hell Bat LVL 5

Those were the levels and descriptions of every one of those demonic beings involved. In fact, if I didn’t know better, I’d say that there were twelve of the Skeletal Commanders commanding seventy soldiers per commander… or am I just miscounting?

[Actually… you’re not miscounting. Sorry about that.]

Gato felt that his eyes were about to pop out of their sockets. You’re joking, right?

“Gato, we need a plan!” M’thr’ln shouted over the din of the battlefield. “What are we going to do now?! We can’t scratch the demon as it stands right now!”

Gato looked at the platinum dragon and groaned. “I’m aware, M’thr’ln!” He turned to face the nearest skeleton, which was not even close to him to begin with. “Of course, these skeletons are too numerous for the two of us to face off without having some way of bombarding the whole lot of them!”

From what he could tell, the battlefield was beginning to become even more dangerous overall. It wasn’t helping matters that the demon known as Caules was looking more than a little smug with the situation.

I am so not looking forward to the rest of the battle as it stands right now…

Gato picked up a rock from the ground, aimed it at Caules, and threw with all his might to get the demon’s attention off of M’thr’ln long enough to get the platinum dragon to make an impressive bombardment against the whole lot of them —

*RATTLE!!*

—except that the nearest skeleton got in the way and took what had to be a fifth of its total HP bar worth of damage.

[You have dealt 280 points of damage!]

Not helping…

“Oh, I’m sorry, did I say that you could fight me directly the whole time?” Caules asked, a mocking lilt in his voice. “If you manage to defeat the skeletons, then you get to fight me again.”

Thanks for nothing!

“However, I’ll give it to you straight,” Caules said, a certain sense of ego in his tone. “Regardless of the part where you fight the skeletons, you won’t be able to win against me whatsoever. You’re just wasting your time fighting the inevitable. Even if you manage to hurt me enough to make things even worse for me, you’d still have to fight all the swarms of bats, which will then lead to the end of the fight in my victory.”

“That’s a load of bogus info, and you know it!” Gato exclaimed. “We’re going to beat you, all the way down to the bitter end!”

Caules began laughing again. “Now that’s more like it!” he declared when the laughter subsided. “I hope you can live up to your lofty ambitions, boy! You’re going to need a lot of help to get this over with!”

No need to tell me twice!

“Now, my skeletal soldiers and knights,” Caules said, slashing his battle-ax in front of him. “Attack the mortals! Feed off of their despair and agony as they lose their lives to you and all that you represent!”

This… is going to suck. I just know it.

#

Now that that’s settled, Caules thought as the skeletons charged at the mortal enemies of his, it’s time to go over what I can do with the remains of the two of them, especially when the time comes. I don’t want to waste valuable resources, not one bit.

He shrugged, before he took out a small notebook made out of human leather, which was a much sought-after material in the realm of the Underworld that he called home, and a pen filled with angelic blood, which was useful for nefarious contracts. Of course, he didn’t think to write down a contract just yet, but that’s to be expected. He was trying to save ink for when it was time to write down those contracts. However, he needed to make sure that the duo he was fighting would fall to him in combat, before he tried anything of worth.

Let’s see, do I need to change the ink out for regular ink? I would think so, except that the idiots who thought they could fight me to the end of my life are being awfully persistent right about now. This is a right pain and a half, I can feel it…

He shook his head, before he pulled out a strip of ink and switched out the angelic blood with the regular ink. He needed to draft down a number of ideas for what to do with the pair fighting him.

Now, then… what sounds like a good thing to do to them? I mean, this is just a right pain in everything that makes me a proper demon… and I need to fix this up.

Either way, he needed to be careful, regardless of the circumstances he was dealing with. He wanted to make sure that the idiots he was dealing with didn’t get it into their heads that they could actually defeat him at his current strength. That would be a problem if they thought that fallacy.

Now… how to best get the idiots killed off, so to speak. I mean, I still need them alive for later on. I don’t see anything wrong with that idea at all.

Yes, he was perfectly aware that he was contradicting himself, but what sort of demon would he be if he was able to get things straight in one go? He wasn’t known for his kindness, nor was he known for his sense of being straightforward from the get go. In fact, there was more to the whole thing than that, especially since he wanted to keep things from going along the lines of him losing his chance at getting things done right for the realm he called home.

Okay, let’s see what I can write down for this notebook of ideas for torture, shall we? I don’t want to forget where I’m going with these things whatsoever.

As he began to write down ideas for torturing the enemies he was fighting now, he looked up from the notebook momentarily to see something out of the corner of his right eye.

Hello, what’s this? Am I being recorded for some reason?

#

“Yes… yes you are,” the Enemy of All Souls said in front of his computer monitor. “This is a very important time for all of us, Caules, even if you aren’t aware of what’s going on.”

There was a knock at the door. “Boss, who’s Caules?” Belphegor asked.

“Oh, did I say that out loud?” the Enemy of All Souls asked. “Oops…”

“Please, tell me if this is a real person or not, boss,” Belphegor said from behind the door. “I’d like to know if it’s something that will affect the future or not.”

The Enemy of All Souls sighed. I need to find a way out of explaining every little detail…

“Boss?”

“Oh, right, Caules is a real person,” the Enemy of All Souls said. “I’m certain this person will be important later on down the road, though, to be fair.”

“Okay, boss,” Belphegor said. “I’ll leave you back to your work now.” With that, Belphegor walked away from the door, or so the Enemy of All Souls could tell.

Now… what do I do now? I need to find a way to get the Dimensional Overseer defeated at her own game… but how? Wait…

He thought back to the offer that he got earlier in relative time. It seemed to be too good to be true, at the time, but now? He was highly considering the words of the person who contacted him directly.

This person who contacted me was willing to do practically anything to destroy the flow of souls, or so she said. Why am I even contemplating what’s going on here?

Still, the person who contacted him said something along the lines of how they were able to provide extra forces for the battles to come, all of them soulless. It was especially a good deal for him, but he didn’t know the catch…

I guess I’d better look into what the catch actually is, he thought. This is proving to be a pain in so many places at once, truly.

Eventually, he pulled up the contents of the flash drive he got from the other person, opening the files needed to reply to the person who had contacted him. As he did so, he contemplated the offer given to him…

***

“I’ll keep this brief, EAS,” the woman who was speaking with him said. “Many worlds are prospering when they have no right to, and the realms are stagnating in their prosperity. We need to fix this issue right away. The reason why I say this is because the soul is corrupted, and anyone who has one is proving to be as corrupt as the one who made them. We have to eradicate the soul from the ground up. That’s the only way we can remove the stagnation of the worlds out there. I hope you are in agreement with me about this.”

“What do you want me to do with this information?” the Enemy of All Souls asked. “I mean, I am in agreement, but there’s more that I need to know.”

“Of course, EAS,” the woman said. “In point of fact, I need you to handle the destruction of the souls that you collect, while organizing a way to reset the realms they come from. Is that understood?”

Well… this is going to be a pain and a half… “Of course, but what exactly do you want me to do for this to work?”

“I’ll provide the details in a relative day from now,” she said. “Should you accept, I will give you access to the Machina Forge that is within my domain… but under no circumstance is it to be moved out of my domain.”

“The Machina Forge?!” Of course, this is the same person who I thought it was… why am I surprised, exactly?

The Machina Forge… a forge for creating sentient beings without souls, which was a perversion of life in general, or so the gods and goddesses of each realm said. However, each realm seemed to have differing rules regarding life and unlife, at least in the perspective of the Enemy of All Souls. How come, he didn’t know, but it was something to keep in mind.

“Exactly, EAS,” the woman said. “Now, if you wish to keep in touch with me, you will need to open a specific program within the flash drive you now have in your possession. Open the outward dialog program, then type in the number code for ‘slut’ to get through to me again. It will work, trust me.”

“And if it doesn’t?” the Enemy of All Souls asked.

The woman shrugged. “Well, it’s up to you to make it work,” she said. “Just make sure to contact me as directly as you can for this to work the way we want it to.”

***

Man, am I going to be in so much trouble with her now… I’m running late by a few hours!

The Enemy of All Souls typed in the correct code and waited to get in touch with the woman he spoke with beforehand. As it turned out…

“Hello, thank you for calling the Kaiser Law Firm,” a girl said in the video. “Who are you trying to reach in the firm?”

“Get me Kaiser Maria Brunswick, please,” the Enemy of All Souls said.

“Uh, sir, do you have an appointment with her?” the girl asked. “I ask because she has a meeting right now with a client.”

Stupid sticklers of the rules… “Yes, I have an appointment, miss,” the Enemy of All Souls answered. “Tell her that EAS is on the line right now.”

“Okay, I’ll page her and see if she’ll take this call right now, or if she’ll take it in a few minutes. Please wait here on this line,” the girl said, before walking away from the screen.

This better work as intended…

A minute later, the girl returned. “Sir, I’m going to transfer you to her right now,” she said. “Please hold for a second, sir.”

Why, thank you so much, lass…

Finally, the screen shifted from the girl to the woman who he wanted to speak with from the get go. “Sorry about the confusion, EAS,” Kaiser Maria Brunswick said, “I didn’t tell you that I ran a law firm as a cover.”

“Well, at least it makes sense,” the Enemy of All Souls said. “So, how are you planning to give me access to the Machina Forge, exactly?”

“That, I’m afraid, is going to be tricky,” Brunswick said. “You see, the Machina Forge uses an entry key card, one that’s being produced right now. If you don’t have this card on you, you’ll not be able to enter the Machina Forge any time soon, because of the strict requirements regarding this whole thing.”

“Okay, point,” the Enemy of All Souls acquiesced. “Now, why is it tricky, exactly?”

“I’d need to open a doorway for you to take the card from me, and I don’t have the interdimensional coordinates for your base of operations,” Brunswick said. “How soon can you tell me the coordinates to your base?”

“Right now, actually,” the Enemy of All Souls answered. “The coordinates are—”

“At least wait for the key to be made first, EAS,” Brunswick told him. “After all…”

“'After all’ what?”

“You might get some unintended junk piled at your front door.”